The Atlantean God's Untold Plan
by Gemini's Emerald
Summary: This is a possible side story to the book of Acheron. NOTE: There are major spoilers here, if you haven't read the book "Acheron" and do not wish it ruined for you please do not read. I would hate to ruin this great book for you! : Thank you. *smiles*


**The Atlantean God's Untold Plan**

**(A segment that might have been a side story in the book of Acheron.)  
**

**(NOTE: There are major spoilers here, if you haven't read the book "Acheron" and do not wish it ruined for you please do not read. I would hate to ruin for you the great reading that is the book of Acheron!! Thank you *smiles*.)**

Dikastis paced back and forth, an idea forming in his head, a quite good one, one he'd been working on for quite a while. One to undermine Apoloymi's doing. Everything else the gods had tried had failed to find much less pin point any location of Apostolos, but if perhaps his plan would work....

Dikastis closed his eyes and searched in the minds and hearts of the men and women below in Atlantis and Greece, anyone that might fit into his plan...and he found one. Chrysanthe. She was Greek but a part of her family heritage lay in Atlantis and she and a part of her family still paid homage to some of the gods there...including him. He found her in his temple at that very moment, alone, giving an offering and praying. Praying for the unsettlement between Atlantis and Greece.

Perfect. Just the thing to put his plan into motion.

He first appeared in the temple invisible to her eyes and just watched her, and as he did he became more entranced with her. She was a most beautiful young lady, in the flower of her youth. Age twenty-six if he picked out her thoughts correctly. With a wave of his hand he made sure that anyone else would avoid his temple for the rest of the time he spoke with her. He then went visible behind her and softly spoke her name. Chrysanthe jumped as if she'd been struck with a hot brand and turned to stare at the man behind her. Oh, nay, he couldn't be a man, mere men did not look like this, they wouldn't dare for fear of the gods might strike them dead for their beauty. No, he had to be a god...he had to be...Justice. She quickly dropped to her knees in front of him and muttered her apologies of staring at him. Dikastis smiled down at her.

"Stand, my child, and speak with me. I have a mission for you if you will accept." He offered and waited for her reply.

Chrysanthe slowly lifted her head to look up at him then stood to her full height of 4' 10''. A short human she was, but her beauty and confidence made up for what she lacked in physical height, or so her heart and mind was telling him.

"What is the mission, my Lord?" Chrysanthe humbly asked him, her eyes still downcast in respect.

Dikastis smiled at learned piety.

"Look at me, Chrysanthe." He used her name, which got the reaction he wanted. She lifted her eyes to him, the pleasure of him using her name showing bright there.

"There is one that would threaten the sanctity of our Atlantean Pantheon. One who would destroy us. The power of the gods put into a mortal man by a traitor." It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie either... "I need you to help me find this man. I promise you a gift if you would do this for me."

Chrysanthe looked at him, her eyes still in awe, and the rest showing signs of other human desires. She stayed silent so long that Dikastis thought she hadn't heard or comprehended him. He was about to ask again when she nodded.

"Yes, my Lord, I accept. How do I help?"

Dikastis smiled. She was so eager, just as he hoped she would be.

"We do not know what this man looks like, but we do know he was touched by Epithymia and would most likely be most desired above all men by both men and women. We think he is in Greece."

Chrysanthe bowed in respect.

"I shall do what you ask to the best of my abilities, My Lord."

Dikastis smiled smugly to himself. His plan had worked well...

**THE MONTHS FOLLOWING**

Chrysanthe would spend the next several months searching fervently, having constant talks with Dikastis about her findings and possibilities. Dikastis' desire grew for her as time went by, so much so that he became quite jealous of the men she sought out. Chrysanthe waited outside the door of the house in Atlantis where she'd tracked down one of the men she thought might be the one Dikastis sought. Finally they might get some results! Someone answered the door soon after her knock and she presented herself as the next 'visitor'. The man nodded and beckoned for her to follow him. Through several hallways of this magnificent overly marbled mansion they traversed before coming to an obscure room way out of the way of the main part of the house.

"Your tsoulus awaits you." The man spoke, bowing slightly and opening the door for her to step into the room.

She'd heard many rumors of this one special tsoulus, how his skills surpassed those of anyone else's, and how one couldn't deny him, even if they had changed their mind before entering the room. The description seemed to fit what Dikastis was looking for, hopefully this time she was right...

Chrysanthe's mouth fell open in awe at the beauty of the man that lay on the bed before her, even as the desire rose within her gripping her with a vengeance and beyond that. Her vision nearly swirled with the heat that overran her body. Without movement or word the man before her beckoned her to the bed and she found that she couldn't help herself. She slowly stepped towards him stalking like a wild animal. The desire to touch him, to take him till he screamed for mercy, till they both were sore and spent, was foremost in her mind and wouldn't dissipate no matter how desperately she tried to come to her senses. She slipped onto the bed slowly approaching him on all fours as his eyes beckoned her closer. She was barely inches from touching him when suddenly she found herself on all fours on a stone floor staring at nothing but a pair of legs. She growled knowing those legs well and pushed herself to her feet. She was still in the throes of desire and to be ripped from that, well…she wanted to rip someone…

"HOW DARE YOU!!" She yelled at Dikastis, the anger welling in her burning hotter than she'd ever felt in her entire lifetime. "You interrupt my session and I was about to..!"

She didn't get the last word out before Dikastis grabbed her face and pressed his lips to hers all passion and desire and need. Passion and desire and need that let slip all heated anger from her mind. She'd forgotten for those few brief minutes with the tsoulus how much she had wanted to do this for the past few months…and now it was happening. The kiss was ever so much beyond what she'd expected, and the feel of his lips...well there were no words for that. She let her hands slid up his chest and wrap around him as he backed her up and laid her upon his bed there.

Dikastis was fierce in his passion for her. She had known hers well but had only imagined him feeling the same. Their love making lasted days, or was it weeks. Chrysanthe had lost all track of time laying in bed with him, sleeping with him, awaking to his kisses and having it start all over again.

As they lay in bed now, softly kissing and cuddling, Dikastis nuzzled his nose upon her cheek then upward towards her ear before he whispered the words he'd been desiring to say for the past few days.

"I grant you my gift."

It was as simple as that, no words to explain what gift he gave her, but she knew…she knew… His desire for her and these past few days told her all and, she let herself think: what if she gave him a child. That would be gift enough for both of them. Then he said the words she'd been dreading to hear.

"You have to go back." His eyes spoke volumes at how he hated saying those words as well but their Pantheon was at stake. His desire couldn't override the need to keep his kin safe.

Chrysanthe opened her mouth to protest but shut it as soon as she looked into his eyes. She knew why he spoke and she nodded silently. Her work was not yet done, she still needed to find the one that threatened them….that threatened her Dikastis. She smiled inwardly at using those words and how right they sounded in her head…Her Dikastis. She couldn't see a future without him, to have him disappear forever.

Dikastis kissed her passionately one more time before whispering, "I shall see you again soon." And before she could say another word she was back in her own bed feeling quite bereft and cold.

A week later Chrysanthe returned to the place where that one particular tsoulus had been kept and found that he was gone. That lead dead she went on to others but they all seemed to be dead ends as well. Her anxiousness consumed her more and more as each new lead led to nothing, and her sweet demeanor became more and more biting towards those she held close, family and friends alike. She felt Dikastis' death was near, she wasn't sure how she knew but she felt that if she didn't find this man soon who threatened him he would be gone within the year.

**TWO YEARS AND SIX MONTHS LATER….**

Two years and thousands of prospects later Chrysanthe was feeling quite spent. No one was fitting Dikastis' expectations. Chrysanthe's search had taken her far from home, into other lands, Macedonia, Thrace, even the island of Crete. Feeling she needed a vacation from all her wanderings, Chrysanthe headed back to her home to visit with friends and family. On her way she heard rumors of a war breaking out between Greece and Athens, with one skirmish not far from where her family lived. She was anxious to see them, to make sure they were alright. She arrived several days later and found everyone in good health though she found out the sad news that a few of her brothers had went off to war, one of which was dead.

Chrysanthe had many grand days with her family before the war invaded their town unexpectedly sending everyone running for their lives. As news reached Chrysanthe's family they tried to scramble together belongings but it was to no avail. One of the many catapulted boulders caught their house and sent it crumpling to the ground, burying everyone inside. Days later Chrysanthe woke up in the rubble of her family home covered in dried blood but unharmed. At first she woke up dazed and confused but then her memory came back to her. She went through the rubble of her beloved family home finding one dead family member after another.

Chrysanthe fell to her knees upon the rough rubble and screamed. Why WHY had she been spared? She wept bitter tears till she suddenly realized that her knee's, which had been bruised and scratched by her fall, suddenly didn't hurt anymore. She lifted up, sitting back on her rear-end and examined her knees. Not one mark... There was blood to be sure but no bruise and no scratches. Suddenly a horrid thought came to her, one she dearly hoped with all her being wasn't true, and she looked at all the dried blood upon her being and remembered. She hadn't been near anyone that had been bleeding...she had woken up alone.. This was HER blood! Her blood!! Dikastis!! It suddenly came to her what his gift had been. It hadn't been his lovemaking or the possibility of a child (which she had long ago gave up on), it had been immunity to death! Rage filled her every pore, she quaked heavily with it, so much so that she almost couldn't stand, but she forced herself to. She took in a deep breath and screamed his name.

"DIKASTIS!!"

As usual her call was answered immediately and she found herself in his bedroom on Katoteros facing him. That smile she always looked forward to seeing was upon his lips, but only for a split second before he saw her and what state she was in. His eyes flashed in anger, how dare someone hurt Chrysanthe! But it was her eyes that sobered him, and he knew what was to come in the next few seconds.

"YOU BASTARD! ROTTED TARTARUS FILTH!!" She screeched. "You did not tell me you made me immune to death! Now my whole family is dead and I can not join them!"

She raced forward ready to slap him hard but he caught her wrists. She wrestled in his grip cursing him and cursing his pantheon and all the labor she'd done to try and keep them in exsistence. He held her for several minutes before she lost her fervor and collapsed against him in tears that felt like they would never end. He held her close and rocked her back and forth. He whispered no apologies. None could be given. This was the gift that he had intended to give her but in the throes of his desire he had given it sooner, and without her permission. Most mortals wished to live longer, even she had for a few years, especially during the time him and her were together, but it had turned into a curse.

Chrysanthe sobbed upon his chest for several long minutes before her thoughts came back to her and she formed an idea in her head. She pushed away from him and looked up into his eyes, hers no longer reflecting that innocent love she had had for him.

"If you wish me like this, then grant me one request...please." She spoke, nearly breaking into sobs again towards the end.

Dikastis looked into her soul torn gaze and nodded and he knew what he had to do...even if it meant he would lose her and the possibility of saving Katoteros.

"Anything." He knew with that one word he could be condemning his kin, but he had done her wrong and he had to amend it.

"I want it so that no god can curse me." Chrysanthe said through her tears.

Dikastis looked at her without a word for several minutes. It was not what he had expected to hear, but finally he nodded and with a wave of his hand he made it true.

"Now return me to my parents house..." She nearly broke into tears again. There wasn't much of a house to return to.

Chrysanthe turned her back on him, awaiting him to return her but he spoke once again before sending her off.

"Remember this one thing Chrysanthe, even though you can't be cursed by any god, you can't be blessed by one either."

Chrysanthe didn't turn around, merely nodded and waited. With a wave of his hand Dikastis sent her to her parents house for her to bury her dead. As he stood there in the silence afterward and stared at the spot where she had stood, Dikastis hoped he hadn't damned them all to the fate the Three Fates has predicted.

A month went by where he heard nothing from Chrysanthe, but then one day she called to him saying she wished to make amends. She had no family now, and he was all she had in the world. He happily took her back and they spent that night talking and making love.

Another week later Chrysanthe had found another few prospects that fit who Dikastis was looking for. She started by visiting a brothel and asked after the man named Acheron. Oddly enough he didn't have anyone else he was seeing at the moment and she was admitted immediately. She was shocked to find that it was the same man she'd tracked down years ago in Atlantis. Only this time she felt no sudden overwhelming desire to jump and ravage him. She found that quite odd since the rumors told that he was irresistible, no one could say no to him. Many even wished to keep him to themselves, and had offered outrageous amounts for him to be theirs. But she felt nothing.

"I'm sorry...I have the wrong man.." She spoke and turned to leave.

"No, wait." He spoke suddenly and she halted with her back to him.

"Stay." He added softly.

She turned around and looked at him, straight in the face. Ever since she'd been with Dikastis she had desired no other man, and the one before her was no different.

Acheron was shocked by the look in her eyes, or the lack thereof. She didn't desire him like others. Her eyes weren't dilated, her body didn't tremble with need, she wasn't panting with sexual want...she was merely gazing at him...at his face.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Chrysanthe" She simply replied.

"You don't desire me." It was a statement of awe, like he'd never experienced this phenomenon before.

Chrysanthe stayed silent not sure what she should do. She had nearly made the decision to leave when he beckoned to her.

"Sit, talk with me a little while."

They sat at a small table in his room and he asked many questions of her, some she couldn't figure out why he would have asked them, but he knew. He had to know where she came from, why she didn't desire him, perhaps he could live there in peace. He found that her town had been destroyed only months before during the war that was now raging between Atlantis and Greece and that since then she had been moving from town to town trying to accomplish some task that she refused to give him details on. He had noticed her fear, the inevitable fear, of his eyes as they spoke but as time passed she seemed to dismiss them all together and truly focus on him and his words. Something that drew him to be even more intrigued with her. It felt good for the other person to be the 'specimen' of study for once. Suddenly Catera announced that her time was up and that the next client was ready to be seen. Chrysanthe stood up to leave but Acheron caught her hand and she gazed back down at him.

"Meet me tomorrow, in the square...please." His eyes, with their unusual silver swirl, gazed up at her pleadingly and she smiled at him and nodded.

"I would be glad to."

He smiled genuinely at her and let her hand go. He watched her leave and thought of how he loved that she looked him in the eyes with no fear and no desire, and how her eyes never wandered. She was truly a unique person...

Over the next several months they met each other in the square to walk and talk, and Chrysanthe came to be very fond of him as he did of her. Even though he might have had a small desire for her to love him more than a friend her heart belonged to another, one she loved to talk of at length but never give the name of. She said it was a secret romance and she didn't wish to betray him.

One day Chrysanthe came to the square for her and Acheron's expected meeting and she didn't find him. She waited for hours and yet still no sign of him. The next week, and the week after that it was the same. No sign of Acheron. For months she never saw him and her heart broke. She had come to love him as a dear friend, an addition to her small group of friends after the loss of her family. She went home to cry, wishing she could cry in Dikastis' arms but she had kept Acheron's and her meetings from him, afraid he might get jealous and kill Acheron...or worse.

**ONE YEAR AND A FEW MONTHS LATER...**

As Chrysanthe was buying food in the market, she heard it whispered of a man beaten nearly to death because he claimed to be Artemis' consort. That was most intriguing, she would have to stop by to see this extraordinary spectacle after she was done with her days chores. Later that night she entered the temple of Artemis. No one was about, the temple oddly empty. She came up to where the man was chained, his head bent so she couldn't see his face. She sneered at him, a pathetic sight. He deserved what he got for lying about their virgin goddess. How dare he blaspheme her purity. She stepped closer and spat at him.

"You deserve this, blasphemer."

The man's head lolled and then lifted to look at her. Chrysanthe gasped and her eyes went wide as her hand flew to her mouth. It was Acheron!

"Acheron?" She asked, sobbing, knowing it was him but not wanting to believe it.

He tried to say her name but he was too weak to do so. Not caring if it would mar her clothes she closed the distance between them and held up his head with her fingers under his chin. She dared not touch anywhere else for fear of hurting him. Sobbing, she brushed his hair, crusted with blood and dried sweat, from his face.

"Acheron...I...I am so sorry... What...what happened?" She knew it was absurd to ask but she did just the same.

For the next hour she stayed with him, comforting him, but soon people came into the temple and she feared being beaten along side him.

"I am sorry Acheron I must go. I will try to see you again." She raced from the temple and returned the next day near night fall and found him gone. Once again her heart broke. Would her friend ever find peace?

**A FEW WEEKS LATER**

Apollymi had gotten wind of her kin's plot to find Acheron and her heart beat in fear as it seemed almost certain that this one might work. She had found the mind of the woman they'd employed. She knew nothing of this woman's relationship with Acheron, nor did she care. Her sons life was at stake and that was all that mattered. For the next year till Acheron's twenty first birthday, Apollymi whispered to the young woman in her head. On days Acheron was out and about in the crowd and Chrysanthe was also, right when she was about to see Acheron, Apollymi would whisper the young woman's name and distract her in a different direction. Anything to protect her son...

**ONE YEAR LATER**

The unanimous tumult of screams and collapsing structures from Didymos and its occupants was deafening in Chrysanthe's ears as it felt like a huge earthquake was tearing the whole city apart. Chrysanthe ran from her home as it crumbled to the ground and tried to flee town like many others, trying not to sob as horrid memories from her family's past threatened to over run her mind. She didn't make it far before she fell and was knocked unconscious. As she faded she dearly wished death would have mercy upon her and take her...but the two gifts Dikastis had given her wouldn't allow her the luxury.

Chrysanthe awoke to something heavy upon her and something choking her lungs, yet she felt like she had an odd weightlessness to her. She opened her eyes yet barely any light penetrated the darkness about her. She tried to breath but only succeeded in setting her lungs on fire, feeling like her whole insides would erupt. Then she had the frightening realization of where she was. She was under water!! Weakly she crawled, unable to breath and tried to find the surface but she blacked out again. It went on like this for what felt like days before she crawled upon the blessed shore and spat up the water that sat in her lungs. She quivered on all fours, from the effort she had just put forth as waves came up and surrounded her. Once she had control of herself she stood up...and nearly fell over again. Didymos was gone, her home there, of many she had had, was gone, everything in a shambles. She was too stunned to do anything but stare and shake, but then she fell to her knees screaming at the unfairness of it all. She screamed till her throat was raw and she couldn't scream anymore, except for one word that broke from her lips hoarsely.

"DIKASTIS!" But there was no answer.

No...no he HAD to answer her...he couldn't be gone too...she couldn't have failed him...no...NO! She screamed for him again but still nothing and she fell over crying bitter tears as the waves surrounded her body time and again. She was alone till she died of old age, or so she thought. It wasn't till many years later that she also found out that not only had Dikastis made her immune to death but also immortal. She would be alone...till the end of time...


End file.
